Storage battery



Apr. 10, 1&23,

THORPE STORAGE BATTERY File d' Feb.

:I 12221672 for i i l wzmwfi T wijme Aifarnggr W1 in ass Patented Apr. 10, 1923,

WI L AM H. THORIPE, or MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK s'roaaeu Ba'r'rEaY.

Application. filed February 1, 1922. Serial No. 533,443.

Batteries, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to small storage batteries and its object is to provide a comparatively inexpensive storage battery suitable fon delivering small currentoutputs but;

having a large ampere-hour capacityfor a given weight of active material, a minimum amount of local action and a reasonable length of. life, that is, cycles of charge and:

discharge, and ,a minimum amount of deterioration while standing idle. Also included in this invention is an improved method of filling the battery with water or electrolyte and an improved method for the I prevention of terminal corrosion.

I have herein described one embodiment of my invention which is the best of which I am at present advised but this embodiment is used in an illustrative sense and not a limiting one for obviously many embodiments can be dGVlSEILWhlCh will be within the spirit and scope of the invention.

The chosen embodiment. has been illustrated in the accompanying drawings in 7 Which-- Figure 1 is a vertical sectiontaken'thrbugh my improved battery;

Figure 2 is an elevation otmy battery with a part cut away te show the interior construction and especially the filling tu'be;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken alonglthe lines 3-3 in Fig.1.

The invention resolves itself into componentparts or features which may be referredto as units, plates, complete cell, terminals, filling tube, and venfl and sealing. Therefore, a description w'i 1 be given under each of these headings asfollows:

Unitas-The plates 11 of my invention are made up of a number of units 12, through the center of which-a small strip or rod 13 (of lead or, an alloy of antimony and lead) is used for conducting the current. This stripieo f the minimum dimensions suitable for 'ca'rrying the required current and it may he of any suitable shape, square, round, ob-

long and twisted, etc., a square strip, how-" ever, being shown in the drawing. The active material '14 for the positive and negative units may be made of the customary lead oxides of any shape such as in the form of a cube or flat disc, and is molded around the lead core strip 13. In. between these cubes, or discs of active material, a porous, inactive material 15 is molded after the active material has set. The whole unit .then takes the form shown in Fig. 2 with a cube or disc of active material alternating with a cube or disc of porous, material and a lead rod running through the center of each; The purpose of-the porous material 15,is to strengthen the unit'and at the same time to allow the electrolyte to come in contact with the top and bottom surfaces of the active the plate '12, the lead strip 13 of each unit" is passed through the holes 17 in the plate holder cover 18. After the units are connected together to form the plate ll, they are placed in the plate holder 19. The plate holder 19- may be made of some insulating acid resisting material such as hard rubber. The uprights 20 of the plate holder and cross pieces 21 hold the units 12 of the plate 11 in place and prevent therr frc'n warping. The plate holder being of an insulating material, takes the place of the usual separator;

Complete ceZZ.-Before the plate groups are placed in the'jar or battery casing 22, the terminal lead strips of each group are leadburned at 25' to the cell terminals 26. The plate groups are then placed in the jar, and the electrolyte added, this being in the form ofa very wet'paste which may consist of powdered pumice stone, plaster of Paris and sulphuric acid of about 1.250 specific gravity or otheryequ'ivalent material such-as a solution of silicate of solar and sulplil'lric acid. After the electrolyte is poured into the jar, the space 28 provided between the top of the plates and the jar cover 27 may be filled with some inactive porous, material such, for instance as. sponge soft rubber, thus providing a suitable'expansion space for the "W I 'material cubes or discs, thus giving a maximum current capacity for ag1ven weight of electrolyte and gas and also preventing the paste electrolyte from flowing away from the plates when the cell is placed on its side or turned upside down.

TerminaZs.The terminals 26' are of-spe 'cial construction to prevent the electrolyte creeping up onto and corroding any brass or copper connections'made to the cell. The terminal may .be made of a lead-antimony alloy and is preferably constructed as shown.

' A cup part29 is filled with an acid resist- I filling tube isv raised .the bottom of the cell-andthe bottom of the ing material such as petroleum jelly or petrOleum jelly combined with a strong alkali.

The terminals are passed through holes in the jar-cover 27 and a 'nut 30 is screwed down on the terminal screw 31 to meet the cover 27. The nut 30' is in the form of an inverted cup also filled with the acid re-. sisting material similar to that used on the cup part 29. v To make a tight fit and to keep the petroleum jelly in place around the ter minal, a soft rubber asher 31 is placed on the cups asv shown. This method of sealing the terminals is not confined to this par ticular type Iof cell, but is applicable to any storage battery terminal. The screw part of th'eterminal may be fixadeof brass or other'equivalent material embedded inau antimony-lead cup where a stronger tertube is filled with a porous inactive material 33 similar to the material 28 above the plates in the expansion space. This is preferably sponge rubber. The material 33enters. the filling tube .32 a short distance and that portion thereof extending out of the I tube is larger in diameter than the tube. .One of the defects of the present solid acid storage batteries is that the paste electrolyte gradually dries out; By using a filling tube as above described, water maybe added from time to time and it will gradually seep into.

- the paste electrolyte to replace that lostby from filling the tube.

evaporation and gassing. As an obstruction is placed in the bottom of the tube (so-ft sponge rubber 33) it will take considerable time to seep through the bottom of the tube. This method therefore prevents'too much Water beingadded to fill up. thee-xpansion space and come out through the vent tube 34. The sponge rubber 33 at the bottom of the tube also prevents the paste electrolyte provided with a suitable cap or plug I Vent cmd-seaMng.-In order to allow any The filling tube is gas formed to escape from the cell, a small vent tube 34 is provided having a forked duct 36 therein to prevent the exit of any liquid. The space above the cover is then filled. in upto the top otthe' jar with sealing compound 37. lt will thus be seen that I have devised a new cell which has the following advantages:

As all faces of the active material are exposed to the section of the electrolyte, there is a minimum amount (it-active material used. thus cheapening the construction and cutting down the weight. Also, as the active material is in the form of small cubes or discs, the plate will warp very little. H

As the lead strip through the center of the unit is of. a minimumsize to conduct the cur- I rent required, the customary heavy grid is done away with, thus cutting down the Weight of the plate, and also resulting in a minimum amount of local action between the u'ietallic lead in the plate and the active ma terial.

As the. plate holder is made of an insulatmg, acid resisting material, no separators are required between the positive and negative plates.

As a large expansion space is provided I above the plates wherein the sponge rubber will hold't-he solid part of the electrolyte in place, the electrolyte can contain more liquid than is usual in the case of storage cells oi the solid acid type. thus increasing the ampere hour capacity of the cell.

As a filling tube is provided which auto-' matically measures the amount of liquid added, too much liquid cannot be added, so there is never any leakage through the vent.

Acid creepage up the terminals-is prevented. r I

As the plates are made up in the form of units. it Will not be necessaryfor the manufacturer to keep various sizes of plates in stock because differentsizes ofplatcs can be made up quickly by assembling ditl'erent numbers of units to make up the various.

the units only core, and a n'ioldahle inactiveporous malic rial molded to lie between said active layers and around said core.

2. A method of forming battery plates which consists in applyingto a metallic core, a plurality of spaced apart discs of active material; and thenmolding inactive material between said discs and around said core.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature to this specification. i f

WILLI M H. Tiioaies. 

